Vows Renewal Package

[Racer2016]

Hello Cruisecritic community,

 

My husband and I will be taking an Alaska cruise on the Ruby Princess.  We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary as we sail through Glacier Bay.  We were considering purchasing the vows renewal package for that day.  Has anyone had any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

[Haboob]

29 minutes ago, Racer2016 said:

Hello Cruisecritic community,

 

My husband and I will be taking an Alaska cruise on the Ruby Princess.  We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary as we sail through Glacier Bay.  We were considering purchasing the vows renewal package for that day.  Has anyone had any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

2nd hand info, so take it with a whole shakerful of salt.

 

On a recent cruise, tablemates complained the video of their ceremony cost $2000.

[katisdale]

We have done a vow renewal. It was fabulous. I have no idea of the cost of the video as we didn't ask. The only thing you may find displeasing is that you don't get the choose the day of the ceremony. They will try to accommodate you but the day depends on the Captain's schedule. We didn't do it in Alaska so I don't know if that particular day requires him/her to be on the bridge.

[Daniel A]

We did the vow renewals package on a Panama Canal trip this past spring.  It was worth every penny for the basic package.  You don't get to pick the day but on embarkation day you will be asked to meet with a ship's officer to discuss your preferences.  They will do their best to accommodate your preferences but timing is subject to the Captain's availability (as mentioned above.)  After the ceremony, you will have a photographer and a videographer take you to various locations on the ship for more photos.  You don't need to purchase the additional photos - they are outrageously expensive in my opinion.  It will take a day or two for the photography people to hit you up for the additional photos.  Be prepared, but enjoy the vow renewal ceremony - it was very special.

[pjrockman]

Loved every aspect of it for our 30th on the Royal Princess in 2016.  The basic package is great.  Others recently report high prices for the extra picture and or video package and say that there was no rate sheet.  Attached is the rate sheet given to us in 2016.  It wasn’t bad and worth the price to us.  We got package 2 and the video for $479.  Number of proofs were about 150.  So, ask if they have a price list when you board.

 

Enjoy, Paul

[Anubi]

We did it in April and loved every minute of it.  A truly wonderful and memorable experience.  I strongly urge you to do this.  Princess knows how to do Renewals.  

 

However (and don't you just HATE that word at the beginning of a sentence?),  we were never given a cost on the extra pictures and video and were hit with a totally unexpected and whopping $4000.00USD, about $5200.00CDN, invoice if we wanted everything.  We declined and the price abruptly dropped to $1200.00USD but again we declined.  We did get some lovely pictures for about $300 and we were very happy with those, but were not happy with the way we were sandbagged with this cost.   

[Janie001]

1 hour ago, Anubi said:

We did it in April and loved every minute of it.  A truly wonderful and memorable experience.  I strongly urge you to do this.  Princess knows how to do Renewals.  

 

However (and don't you just HATE that word at the beginning of a sentence?),  we were never given a cost on the extra pictures and video and were hit with a totally unexpected and whopping $4000.00USD, about $5200.00CDN, invoice if we wanted everything.  We declined and the price abruptly dropped to $1200.00USD but again we declined.  We did get some lovely pictures for about $300 and we were very happy with those, but were not happy with the way we were sandbagged with this cost.   

As we will be doing this on an upcoming cruise, I am curious if it was a hard sell to buy the photos/video?  We would not purchase it for anywhere near that amount of money and would most likely just be happy with the one photo included in the package.  Should we ask them not do do the additional photos, or are they ok if you just say no after the fact?

 

We had a similar experience on Celebrity doing a photo session in their studio.  We were very upfront that we would not be looking to spend a lot of money (they would not tell us beforehand what it cost), but they encouraged us to do it and just enjoy the experience.  We did not purchase the package and they were fine about it.  To give them their dues though it was hard to say no to - the were the best photos we have ever had taken of us.

 

Also since you have done the ceremony, are you allowed to say your own vows or do you just repeat after the captain?  

[Anubi]

2 minutes ago, Janie001 said:

As we will be doing this on an upcoming cruise, I am curious if it was a hard sell to buy the photos/video?  We would not purchase it for anywhere near that amount of money and would most likely just be happy with the one photo included in the package.  Should we ask them not do do the additional photos, or are they ok if you just say no after the fact?

 

We had a similar experience on Celebrity doing a photo session in their studio.  We were very upfront that we would not be looking to spend a lot of money (they would not tell us beforehand what it cost), but they encouraged us to do it and just enjoy the experience.  We did not purchase the package and they were fine about it.  To give them their dues though it was hard to say no to - the were the best photos we have ever had taken of us.

 

Also since you have done the ceremony, are you allowed to say your own vows or do you just repeat after the captain?  

I didn't feel that it was a hard sell but they were not surprised that we said no to the entire package.  But it was such a waste.  They had prepped the entire package, edited the video and printed everything, there were lots of 8X10's and 4X6's .  Of course, we went though all the pictures and viewed the video before they told us the cost, so if you consider that kind of pressure hard sell, then perhaps it would be.   What really bothered me was that I told them that I really wanted the video, it was very well done, but they wouldn't go below $700 on that.  I told them that if I didn't get the video before we left, I would attempt again once the cruise was over.  But when I contacted Princess after we got home I was told the video had been erased the day the cruise ended and was no longer available.  I wish they had told me that it had to be purchased on board; I really feel like I missed an opportunity there.   

 

Ok, enough bitching.  🙂  

 

I believe you can do your own vows.  I recall being asked that when we were contacted prior to the ceremony.  They also asked if you had rings or if you had any specific preferences.  It was very well done.   

[Daniel A]

We weren't given a price list for the photos at all.  We were verbally quoted some outrageous amounts for photos we would look at once and then put in a drawer.  Our experience was that when we declined, other smaller packages were offered but to be honest, I just wanted to get out of there.  We did get an 8x10 that came with the basic package and we got a complimentary photo CD that has a video montage on it so you can't copy any photos from it.  The implied pressure to buy was that they showed you all this work they had done printing up all these extra photos that didn't come with the basic package.  It didn't work.  All of that said, enjoy the Renewal of Vows experience, it is wonderful.  Just be prepared for the sales presentation the next day when you stop by to pick up the photo that already came with the basic package.

[Fuzzyape]

We haven't done what you're looking into.  But let me say congratulations on the 20th anniversary!

 

Enjoy the cruise and the renewal of vows.

Congrats!

 

Counting down the days!

[pjrockman]

4 hours ago, Janie001 said:

As we will be doing this on an upcoming cruise, I am curious if it was a hard sell to buy the photos/video?  We would not purchase it for anywhere near that amount of money and would most likely just be happy with the one photo included in the package.  Should we ask them not do do the additional photos, or are they ok if you just say no after the fact?

 

No hard sell.  If you aren’t interested in any extra pics, just decline the trip around the ship.  She took us to like 8 spots to take pics and video shorts, including Casino, Wheelhouse, Piazza and Bridge.  Or, just say that you only want to go to the Bridge.

 

Enjoy, Paul

[Racer2016]

3 hours ago, Fuzzyape said:

We haven't done what you're looking into.  But let me say congratulations on the 20th anniversary!

 

Enjoy the cruise and the renewal of vows.

Congrats!

 

Counting down the days!

Thank you Fuzzyape!   We are definitely counting down the days!

[Racer2016]

On ‎9‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 5:37 PM, Daniel A said:

We did the vow renewals package on a Panama Canal trip this past spring.  It was worth every penny for the basic package.  You don't get to pick the day but on embarkation day you will be asked to meet with a ship's officer to discuss your preferences.  They will do their best to accommodate your preferences but timing is subject to the Captain's availability (as mentioned above.)  After the ceremony, you will have a photographer and a videographer take you to various locations on the ship for more photos.  You don't need to purchase the additional photos - they are outrageously expensive in my opinion.  It will take a day or two for the photography people to hit you up for the additional photos.  Be prepared, but enjoy the vow renewal ceremony - it was very special.

Thank you for the information Daniel A.  We are hoping to do the ceremony on our actual anniversary which will be the day we sail through Glacier Bay.  Fingers crossed...

[Racer2016]

15 hours ago, pjrockman said:

Loved every aspect of it for our 30th on the Royal Princess in 2016.  The basic package is great.  Others recently report high prices for the extra picture and or video package and say that there was no rate sheet.  Attached is the rate sheet given to us in 2016.  It wasn’t bad and worth the price to us.  We got package 2 and the video for $479.  Number of proofs were about 150.  So, ask if they have a price list when you board.

 

Enjoy, Paul

 

Thank you for sharing the price sheet Paul.  We were interested in the basic package.  My budget may be in trouble if we find some amazing shots in the extra photos.

 

Thanks!

Racer2016

[Racer2016]

5 hours ago, Anubi said:

I didn't feel that it was a hard sell but they were not surprised that we said no to the entire package.  But it was such a waste.  They had prepped the entire package, edited the video and printed everything, there were lots of 8X10's and 4X6's .  Of course, we went though all the pictures and viewed the video before they told us the cost, so if you consider that kind of pressure hard sell, then perhaps it would be.   What really bothered me was that I told them that I really wanted the video, it was very well done, but they wouldn't go below $700 on that.  I told them that if I didn't get the video before we left, I would attempt again once the cruise was over.  But when I contacted Princess after we got home I was told the video had been erased the day the cruise ended and was no longer available.  I wish they had told me that it had to be purchased on board; I really feel like I missed an opportunity there.   

 

Ok, enough bitching.  🙂  

 

I believe you can do your own vows.  I recall being asked that when we were contacted prior to the ceremony.  They also asked if you had rings or if you had any specific preferences.  It was very well done.   

 

Thank you for all of the great information Anubi and congratulations on your vow renewal.  After reading all of the posts, I think we will stick with the basic package.  I excited to learn we have the option of writing our own vows.  It sounds like this will be a very special experience for us.

 

[Thrak]

I can't even remember what my vows were so they'd be pretty hard to renew. Seems to have worked as we've been married for 47 years.

[SiliconCruiser]

Seems that they're doing the Vows Renewal thing regularly on every cruise that we've been on for the last couple of years (3).  There's no charge to participate, but it would seem that the photo center has found a niche for photo sales.

 

[Anubi]

11 hours ago, Racer2016 said:

 

Thank you for all of the great information Anubi and congratulations on your vow renewal.  After reading all of the posts, I think we will stick with the basic package.  I excited to learn we have the option of writing our own vows.  It sounds like this will be a very special experience for us.

 

Have a great cruise and congrats on your renewal.  Now all you need to do is figure out how to get the dress to the ship!!   LOL   🙂  

[Bob and Linda]

My wife and I did the vow renewal last fall on the Canada New England cruise. It was very well done and worth every penny. I wasn't planning on telling my wife but ended up telling her as I watched a few clips on YouTube and everyone was dressed up. I was worried she wouldn't have the right clothes along so I told her. She was very happy I did. Princess really does an excellent job at this. My wife loved her bouquet and all the flowers in the Chapel. They did a video and photo montage of everything. We ended up purchasing the photo montage and a greatly reduced rate compared to the first price quote.